Locking mechanism



Jan. 9, 1968 s. F. BURNS 3,3

LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 13, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVENTOR.

/ {y/ues/"er 1 73411775 ATTORNEY Jan. 9, 1968 s. F. BURNS 3362740 LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 13, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. fyfz/e'sfer fffiurns Y ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,362,740 LOCKING MECHANISM Sylvester F. Burns, Rochester, Mich, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 403,512 6 Claims. (Cl. 292-34) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to locking mechanisms for closures and more particularly to a locking mechanism having a rotatable cam member for selectively positioning a locking device to an extended position for positive lock of the closure, or an intermediate slam position to facilitate shutting and locking the closure, or in a retracted position to allow the closure to be opened.

mechanism including a bolt movable between latched, unlatched and intermediate slam positions, having improved bolt-actuating means for returning the bolt from unlatched to slam positions.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rotatable cam for moving a locking member to an extended locking position, to a retracted position or to an intermediate slam position and to further provide a detent mechanism for releasably holding the cam and locking member in the intermediate slam position and for biasing the cam and locking member from the retracted position to the intermediate slam position.

Objects and advantages other than those set forth above will be apparent from the following description which reads in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a vehicle body embodying a locking mechanism according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing the locking mechanism in latched position;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the locking mechanism taken in the plane indicated by line 44 of FIG. 3, showing the mechanism in slam position; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged side view of a portion of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1, a vehicle 1 has a side rear door 3 and side intermediate door 5 pivoted to a frame in the vehicle body by upper and lower hinge assemblies 7 for movement between a closed and open position. Door 5 overlaps door 3 in a conventional manner and is secured to the vehicle body in its closed position by reciprocally movable bolts 9 of upper and lower bolt assemblies 11 which engage the keeper openings in conventional upper and lower strikers provided in the vehicle body structure. When the intermediate door 5 is closed and locked the overlapped side rear door is thereby held and locked. The bolts of the upper and lower bolt assemblies can be retracted or extended by an actuating means 12 located between the inner and outer panels 13 and 15 of the side intermediate door 5. Suitable connecting rods 16 operatively join the bolts 9 and the actuating means.

The actuating means is formed with a support or side plate 17 securely attached to the face plate of the door and to the inner panel 13 by threaded fasteners 19 which extend into threaded openings 21, provided in a projecting flange 23 and offset portion 25. As best shown by FIGS. 2 and 4, plate 17 is formed with two similar slots 27 with major straight portions 29 and curved, retainer portions 31. The retainer portions are offset from the straight portion 29 and are diametrically opposed and longitudinally aligned with the pivot center of a rotatable cam lever which will be described below. These slots are spaced from each other and provide guide tracks for slidable pins 35 which project therethrough and slidably secure the ends of the connecting rods to the side plate.

As best shown in FIG. 3, each slidable pin includes an enlarged cylindrical bearing portion 36 and an intermediate flange portion 38. The flange portion 38 slides in a depression 37 formed in the side plate, while a spring clip 40 fastens to the pin to hold the rod on the pin.

A rotatable inner handle 39, located adjacent to the inner panel 13 of the door is rigidly attached in any suitable manner to a handle shaft 41 which extends through the inner panel. The handle shaft includes an integral cylindrical body portion 45 and a circular head portion 47. The body portion extends through and rotates in a suitable circular opening 49 provided in the side plate While the head portion 47 bears on the outer surface of the side plate to assist in retaining the inner handle in the door and side plate. A square or straight-sided opening 51 is formed in the head and body portion of the handle shaft 41 to closely receive a cooperating straight-sided end portion 53 of a rotatable handle shaft 55 attached to an outside handle 57. The outside handle shaft is in turn rotatably mounted in a bearing member 59 secured to the outer panel 15 by any suitable means which are not shown. The shaft 55 is rotatably retained in the bearing member 59 by a suitable resilient retainer clip 61 which has portions that extend through openings in the bearing member to engage a cooperating groove 62 formed in the shaft 55. From the above, it will be understood that the handles are secured to their respective panels and that upon rotation of either handle the handle shafts 55 and 41 will be rotated.

To extend or retract the connecting rods 16 a rotatable cam lever 63 is provided. This lever has an opening 64 formed therein to receive the cylindrical body portion 45 of the shaft 41. A bushing 65 is rigidly secured to the cam lever by any suit-able fastening means. The cylindrical portion 45 of shaft 41 extends through the bushing 65 and is joined thereto by a suitable fastener pin 67. It will be apparent that upon rotation of the handle the cam lever will rotate with the cylindrical body 45 of shaft 41 about a longitudinal pivot axis.

As best shown by FIGS. 2 and 4, the cam lever is formed with two spaced similar openings 69 of irregular shape. These openings have enlarged portions 71 and minor portions 73 which extend outwardly in opposite directions. Camming Walls 75 of the openings 69 are adapted to bear upon the cylindrical body portions 36 of pins 35 to force the pins to ride in the slots 27 formed in the side plate.

In the slam position shown in FIGURE 4 the door, if open, can be moved on its hinges to a closed position or, if closed, can be opened by the movement of the cam lever 63, forcing the pins to ride in the slots 27 to retract the rods 16 and move the bolts 9 from engagement with their keepers. If the door is swung closed, rods 16 will be forced inwardly when the striker plates are engaged. The clearance distance a! will allow the movement of the pins in their respective slots without engagement of walls 79 of openings 69 an therefore without movement of the cam lever, the handle shafts and handles attached thereto. The cam lever is formed with cam lobes 81, 83 and 85 and with notches or stops 87 and 89 therebetween. A detent lever 91 is attached to the side plate by a pivot 93 and is formed with a detent 95, the end portion of which rides on the lobes and is adapted to fit in either of the notches or stops 87 or 89, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The free end of the detent lever is offset at 96 to ride under a stabilizing tongue 98 which is integral with the plate 17.

A coil spring 97 has one end hooked into a slot 99 on one end of the lever while the other end is hooked into a tab 101 struck from the side plate. This spring biases the cam lever in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cam lever has a hook 103 formed on one extremity thereof which can be engaged by a cooperating hook 105 of a door lock lever 107 rotatably mounted on the plate 17 by pivot 109, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. When the hooks are engaged, the locking lever prevents rotation of the cam lever in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 4 and the rods cannot be withdrawn to move the bolts from their keepers to open the door without release of the cam lever by the lock lever.

The door lock lever is rotated initially in either direction by a key-operated rotatable locking cylinder 110 which includes an offset arm 111. Arm 111 extends from the locking cylinder through an arcuate opening 112 in the side plate into an aligned, smaller arcuate opening 113 provided in the end of the locking lever. On rotation of the cylinder in one direction the arm will engage one end of the slot 113 to rotate the lever in that direction to a locking position; on rotation of the cylinder in the other direction the arm 111 will engage the other end of slot 113 to rotate the locking lever to an unlocked position.

To assist movement of the locking lever to locking and unlocked position, an over-center spring 114 extends between a tab 115 on the locking arm and tab 116 struck from the side plate 17. When the spring has been moved from its position in FIG. 4 on the pivotal movement of the lever 107, it will be initially expanded until it passes the center of the lever pivot and contracts. On contracting the spring will rotate the lever counterclockwise and the hook 105 will engage hook 103. To unlock the cam member the cylinder assembly is rotated in the opposite direction and the arm 111 will rotate the lever in that direction until spring 114 has again been moved past the center of pivot 109. The spring, as it contracts, will move the lever counterclockwise to its unlocked position.

The bolt 9 is secured to the rod 16 by connecting shaft 119 shown in FIG. 5. This shaft is mounted for sliding movement through appropriate openings in spaced tongues 121 of bracket 123 joined by base 125 which is secured to an inner face panel of the door by suitable fastener means 126. A coil spring 127 is mounted between the tongues and surrounds the portion of the shaft which extends between the tongues and contacts a sleeve 129 which is slidably mounted on the shaft 119. This sleeve has an enlarged head portion 131 which is positioned between the tongues and is adapted to be engaged by one end of the coil spring. The body portion 133 of the sleeve extends through an opening in one of the tongues and has an end portion which is adapted to be engaged with one end of the bolt 9 when the bolt is in the slam position as shown in FIG. 5.

In the slam position, the actuating assembly is arranged as in FIG. 4 and the bolts are as shown in FIG.

5 and in engagement with their keepers. If it is desired to open the door, one of the handles is turned in the appropriate direction to rotate the cam lever. For example, the inside handle can be turned counterclockwise to turn the cam lever 63 in that direction, against the action of spring 97. When so turned the detent 95 of lever 91 will ride up on cam lobe 81 from notch 87. The pins 35 will then simultaneously be forced by the camrning surfaces of slot 69 to ride in their tracks 29 in a generally inward direction to withdraw the rods 16 and bolt 9 from their respective keepers. When withdrawn from the keepers, the door 5 may be opened. During this time the bottom portion of the bolt 9 contacts the end of the sleeve and forces the sleeve inwardly against the action of spring 127 in the latch assembly. When the handle is released, the spring 97 acts through detent lever 91, to rotate the cam lever back to its slam position in which the detent again engages in notch 87. The locking bolts are also returned to their slam position, due to the action of spring 127 forcing the bolts back into the position shown in FIG. 5.

In the slam position the door may, if open, be swung to the latched position. When the bolts 9 contact their strikers, they are forced inwardly against the ends of their respective sleeves 131 to compress associated springs 127. The rods 16 will then be forced inwardly and each pin 35 will ride in the major portion of its respective slot 29 for the short distance d shown in FIG. 4. After distance d is traversed, the loaded springs 127, acting through the sleeves 129, will force the bolts 9 into the keeper openings and return the pins to the position shown in FIG. 4.

If it is desired to securely lock the door, the handle 39 may be turned clockwise. The pins 16 will be forced to ride outwardly in their slots to an over-center position in retainer slots 31 and the detent 95 will ride over cam lobe 83 into notch 89. When the pins are so moved, the rods are fully extended and the bolts 9 will be forced outwardly from the position shown in FIG. 5 to extend further into the respective keeper openings. This extended bolt position tightly locks the door in a closed position.

If it is desired to lock the bolts 9 in their extended position, the locking cylinder can be turned by appropriate key means to rotate the lever 107 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4. The off-center arm 111 attached to the cylinder will be turned by the rotating cylinder until the center spring takes over and further rotates the lever into locking engagement with the cam lever in which hook engages hook 103.

From the above it will be understood that applicant has provided a locking mechanism which can simultaneously manipulate spaced locking bolts to securely lock a door in a closed position or to unlock the door permitting it to be opened. With applicants locking mechanism the door can be swung closed and retained without movement of the actuating means. It will also be ap preciated that with applicants construction the door can be manipulated or firmly secured in closed position even when one of the bolts has been damaged or broken.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, various changes and modifications may be made within the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A closure locking mechanism comprising, a support member adapted to be secured to the closure, said support member having a guide track formed therein, a displaceable connecting member, means for connecting said connecting member in said guide track, a rotatable cam lever for reciprocally moving said connecting means in said guide track to move said connecting member with respect to said support member, actuating means for rotating said cam lever, said cam lever being formed with adjacent cam lobes which form a notch therebetween, means for rotating said lever, detent means mounted on said support for releasably holding said rotatable lever in a predetermined position when engaged with said notch, said detent means being'engageable with at least one of said cam lobes for returning said lever to said predetermined position subsequent to rotation of said cam lever from said predetermined position by operation of said actuating means.

2. A locking mechanism for a closure comprising, a support member adapted to be secured to the closure, said support member having first and second spaced guide tracks therein, first and second movable connecting rods, connecting means for slidably mounting said first rod in said first track and said second rod in said second track for reciprocal movement therein, a lever rotatably mounted on said support member, means for rotating said lever, said lever being formed with first and second cam surfaces to move said connecting means in said guide tracks when said lever is rotated, said lever being formed with adjacent cam lobes which form a notch therebetween, detent means rotatably mounted on said support for holding said rotatable lever in a predetermined position when engaged with said notch, spring means for biasing said detent means into continuous engagement with one of said lobes when said lever is turned by a turning force applied thereto, said detent means exerting a biasing force on said lever to bias said lever back to said predetermined position on removal of said turning force.

3. A locking mechanism for a door movable in a frame from open and closed positions comprising, a support member adapted to be secured to the door between the upper and lower ends thereof, said support member having first and second spaced guide tracks therein, first and second rods, door latching means operatively connected to each of said rods, slidable means in said tracks for connecting one end of said first rod to said first track and one end of said second rod to said second track for reciprocal movement therein, a lever rotatably mounted on said support member, means for rotating said lever, said lever being formed with first and second means therein to move said slidable means in said guide tracks to extend or retract said rods and said latching means, said first and second means being formed by Walls in said lever which define irregular shaped openings therein,

said lever being formed with adjacent cam lobes which form a notch therebetween, detent means rotatably mounted on said support for holding said rotatable lever in a preselected position when engaged in said notch and for returning said lever to said predetermined position when said lever has been rotated from said preselected position and said detent has been moved from engagement with said notch into engagement with one of said cam lobes.

4. In a closure movable in a frame between latched and unlatched positions, a latch mechanism comprising, a support member secured to the closure, said support member having first and second guide tracks, first and second rods extending respectively from said support, slidable means mounted in said tracks for connecting one end of said first rod to said first track and one end of said second rod to said second track, bolt means secured to the opposite ends of said first and said second rods for latching the door in the frame, an actuator member operatively connected to each of said slidable means for moving said rods between fully extended and fully retracted positions, pivot means pivotally mounting said actuator member on said support member, operator means for rotating said actuator member, biasing means operatively connected to said actuator member for exerting a biasing force thereon to automatically move said rods and bolts to a slam position intermediate the fully extended and retracted rod positions, each of said tracks being formed with a laterally-extending ollset portion, said offset portions and said pivot being aligned to accommodate said connecting means and establish means to securely hold said rods and said bolts in a fully extended position for locking said closure to the frame.

5. In a closure locking mechanism, a support having a guide track, a connecting member, locking means attached to said connecting member, slide means for slidably connecting said member to said guide track, cam means for moving said slide means in said guide track, an actuator for; rotating said cam means, detent means mounted on said support engaging one part of said cam means for releasably holding said cam means and said connecting member in a preselected position with respect to said support, said cam means being moved from said preselected position in response to a force applied to said actuator for moving said connecting member in said guide track, said detent means being engaged with an other part of said cam means when said cam means is moved from said preselected position, said detent means including biasing means for applying a force on said cam means to automatically return said cam means and said connecting member to said preselected position.

6. A closure mechanism comprising, a support member having a guide track, a locking member, a movable connecting member operatively connected to said locking member, means connecting said connecting member to said guide track, rotatable cam means for reciprocally moving said connecting member in a path defined by said guide track, said cam means having a positive stop portion, an actuator for rotating said cam means, detent means mounted on said support member engaging said stop portion of said cam means for releasably holding said cam means in a preselected position with respect to said support member, said detent means being engageable with another part of said cam means for returning said cam means to said preselected position subsequent to movement of said cam means from said preselected position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,873,485 8/1932 Rowe 292-37 1,909,697 5/ 1933 MacBeth et a1 29240 2,309,437 1/ 1943 Blodgett 292-1 2,729,089 1/1956 'Pelcin 29236 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

6o EDWARD C. ALLEN, Examiner.

J. R. MOSES, Assistant Examiner. 

